Already the state’s largest solar
builder, itek Energy is preparing
for more expansion in 2014

Bellingham’s major
medical center names
new chief administrator as
PeaceHealth’s Northwest
Network looks at new Skagit
County alliance. [17]

More Bellingham
home buyers are
leveling up

STORY ON PAGE 12

Whatcom County real-estate
agents reported lively market
activity in the third quarter
of 2013. In Bellingham, more
buyers are going for homes
in higher price ranges,
compared to last year. [8]

Whidbey Island
Bank enters merger
Joining with Heritage Bank
of Olympia will create
the 11th-biggest bank in
Washington, based on
deposits. All of Bellingham’s
Whidbey Island Bank
branches will be put under
the Heritage name. [9]
EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTO | THE BELLINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL

Bellingham poised for new hotels, more rooms
BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI
The Bellingham Business Journal
s one new hotel opens in
Bellingham, the list of others
ready to enter the local market keeps growing.
A 122-room SpringHill Suites
by Marriott opened on Saturday,
Oct. 19, at 4040 Northwest Ave.
The hotel, which has been in
development for more than five
years, is owned and managed by

A

360 Hotel Group, based in Lynnwood, Wash.
Across the street, construction
is set to begin on a new fourstory, 105-room Home2 Suites by
Hilton at 805 Home Lane. Erck
Hotels of Missoula, Mont., is the
project’s developer.
Just about a block to the north,
on Bakerview Road, an 81-room
La Quinta Inn is expected to open
before year’s end. A little further
away, a 150-160 room Holiday

Inn should begin construction
by next May on land next to the
Bellingham International Airport.
And this summer, Sycan B.
Corp. and InnSight Hotel Management, two firms from Springfield, Ore., submitted a proposal
to the Port of Bellingham’s threemember elected commission,
seeking to build a hotel within
a 10.8-acre site on Bellingham’s
waterfront, for which the port is
currently seeking a master devel-

oper.
Visitors to Whatcom County
spent almost $163 million on
local hotels and motels in 2012,
an increase of more than 50
percent from spending levels in
2002, according to a report by
Dean Runyan Associates.
The new developments will add
hundreds of hotel rooms in Bellingham within the next few years.
The SpringHill Suites on

In this month’s
Market Indicators
Employment statistics are
unavailble due to the federal
government shutdown last
month. But updated data
include economic trackers on
local spending, housing and
other factors. [10]
See BUZZ, Page 4

Price: $1.00

See HOTELS, Page 9

BBJ 2014 BOOK OF LISTS

Space reserved for mailing label

Available February 3, 2014

Features detailed information about the
top businesses in Whatcom County.
Reserve your
promotional space
by January 3, 2014

360-647-8805 • tbouchard@bbjtoday.com

2

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November 2013

CONTENTS
November 2013

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LETTERS
Sees Cherry Point terminal
as election linchpin
I’m excited for the County Council
race; its future power to deny a permit for the Cherry Point terminal has
made national news.
Instead of clear party lines, I’m
pleased to find a diverse crowd
opposes the terminal.
The terminal would hurt our
economy by devastating herring
populations thus endangering salmon
and Washington’s fishing industry,
which supports 66,000 jobs. The
contaminants that threaten herring
would harm agriculture all along the
train corridor. Waterfront businesses
would be blocked by rail traffic.
Coal trains would damage our
infrastructure and property values,
and could force Bellingham to build
bridges over tracks at taxpayers’
expense. More vibration and pollution
would cause wear on property near
tracks and decrease property values.
Entrepreneur Magazine found the
worth of homes near rails decrease
5-7 percent.
Federal law prohibits railroads
from paying more than 10 percent

of the cost of safety improvements.
Heavier coal trains wear out tracks
faster, causing expensive repairs, more
squealing and derailing.
Coal trains would impact the
waterfront redevelopment which represents more jobs than the terminal.
We need investors to pay premium
prices for real estate near the railway—trains would decrease its value
and drive away real job creators.
Let’s set a precedent for moving
from coal to cleaner energies. Becoming a leader in the growing green
energy market could be a great step
for our economy.
I believe conservatives and liberals alike will choose Browne, Mann,
Buchanan and Weimer.
—Alissa French, Bellingham

Supports Mike McAuley for
Port Commission
In November, we will be voting for
two port commissioners who will be
making decisions that will affect us
all for years to come—the waterfront,
airport, living-wage jobs, the kind of
economic development that is best for

our community, our quality of life.
I have been attending port meetings for the past two years because
the increased jet traffic from the
airport greatly impacts my neighborhood. Commissioner McAuley has
impressed me with his desire to fully
understand the issues.
He takes the time to be fully
informed, to read all the necessary
documents, to ask questions, to listen
before he makes a decision. He puts
in the required work and much more
so he can truly serve the community
rather than just rubber stamping
whatever is placed before him. He
met with me and other Whatcom
residents, taking the time to listen to
our concerns about the increased jet
traffic.
Mike McAuley is endorsed by
labor, fishermen and firefighters and
environmental groups. Vote for Mike
for Port.

The Bellingham Business Journal welcomes letters from readers. Please see our guidelines online at BBJToday.
com/contact. Views reflected in letters belong solely to the author(s), and they are not necessarily shared by The
Bellingham Business Journal or Sound Publishing.

formally GaPac

A strong team keeps
getting stronger.

Our name and logo have changed,
but you’ll still see the same people
you know...listening, learning, and
helping in our community.

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We’ve built success by finding and developing great talent. Now it’s time to
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We’re pleased to welcome the newest leaders in our Puget Sound Region
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Whatcom Community College is now
the lead institution of CyberWatch West,
a regional cybersecurity education consortium funded by the National Science
Foundation.
CyberWatch West is one of only four
centers in the nation dedicated to cybersecurity education.
Corrinne Sande, the lead faculty member of Whatcom’s Computer Information
Systems program, will direct the project,
and the CyberWatch West center will move
from its current California location to
WCC’s campus in Bellingham.
CyberWatch West was formed in 2011
to increase the quantity and quality of the
cybersecurity workforce throughout the
western U. S. WCC was one of five founding members along with Mt. San Antonio
College (Calif.), California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California State
University, Dominguez Hills and California State University, San Bernardino.
Today, 36 high schools, colleges and universities are CyberWatch West members.
The NSF provided a $3 million advanced
technology education grant over four years
to support CyberWatch West operations.

Bellingham Chamber accepting
resumes for new CEO
The board of directors of the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce &
Industry announced it will begin accepting
resumes for a new, permanent, CEO.
The chamber’s former president and
CEO, Ken Oplinger, left the position in

Little Tiger Toys celebrates 5-year anniversary

Everson bed & breakfast plans
annual art show
Kale House Bed & Breakfast in Everson
will host its 15th annual art show and sale
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 22, 23, 29
and 30.
Kale House, which is owned by Bonnie
and Cori Litorja, is located at 201 Kale St.
in Everson.
This year’s show will feature the juried
work of about 20 artists from Whatcom
and Skagit counties. During the event,
Hundreds of pieces, including ceramics,
jewelry, fiber art, calligraphy, paintings,
mixed media, and décor for home and
garden are artistically displayed and sold
throughout Kale House, a 1920s-era character home.
More information is online at www.kalehouse.net.

Womencare Shelter joins YWCA
Bellingham
Womencare Shelter, a Bellingham-based
nonprofit organization serving survivors of
domestic violence since 1979, has become
part of YWCA Bellingham, in a move that
leaders from both groups say will strengthen and expand services for women in the
community.

WE’VE MOVED!
Just North of
Fred Meyers Lakeway
and Woods Coffee
on the West Side of
King Street

Potter St

I-5

Data-Link
West

Lincoln St

Whatcom CC takes lead role in
cybersecurity consortium

May. Oplinger is now president and CEO
of the Santa Barbara Region Chamber of
Commerce in Santa Barbara, Calif. Bill
Gorman of Gorman Publicity in Bellingham has filled an interim executive role
since Oplinger’s departure.
Resumes can be sent to hr@vshcpa.com
before Nov. 30.
For more information, contact the
chamber at 360-734-1330, or visit www.
bellingham.com.

King St

BUZZ | FROM 1

November 2013

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Little Tiger Toys’ store manager, Selah Tay-Song, and co-owner Hans Sendelbach show
off some of their wares in this BBJ file photo taken in fall 2008, just after the store
opened in its original location in downtown Bellingham. “I’m not a toy prophet—I just
like toys,” Sendelbach told The Bellingham Business Journal at the time. The downtown
Bellingham store celebrating its five-year anniversary on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
Womencare Shelter works to end domestic violence by providing an emergency
and confidential shelter, 24-hour crisis support services, advocacy-based counseling
and community education. The shelter has
room for 18 women and children.
In 2012, Womencare Shelter provided
99 adults and 98 children with 4,311 bed
nights in its shelter. It also answered 2,152
calls to its 24-hour helpline and provided
more than 6,300 hours of advocacy for its

clients.
No staff changes are planned at Womencare Shelter with the move.
Leaders of YWCA Bellingham helped
launch Womencare Shelter in 1979 and
staff members of both organizations have
collaborated since then, according to Mary
Harrington, president of YWCA Bellingham’s board.

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5

BBJToday.com

REAL-WORLD
TRAINING
College joins private developers in
building new medical-education facility

I

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI
The Bellingham Business Journal

gnore the desks in the center of one of
the brand-new nursing labs at Whatcom
Community College, as well as the lifelike training mannequins that can “breathe”
and realistically respond to treatment, and
visitors might be convinced they are standing in an actual hospital ward.
But even though the labs at WCC’s new
Health Professions Education Center offer
only simulated medical practice, their trueto-life nature is a core component of an
expanding program, said Annette Flanders,
who directs nursing studies at the college.
“It’s as close as we can get [to reality]
with the mannequins, without real people
in the bed,” Flanders said.
Students in the college’s state and
nationally accredited health professions
programs—who train to become registered nurses, medical assistants, physical
therapist assistants and massage practitioners—began the fall quarter of their 20132014 academic year with more than 20,000
square feet of new classroom and lab space,
designed to mimic the work environments most will eventually move into upon
graduation.

The two-story center,
which is located on the
corner of Stuart Road
and Cordata Parkway just
north of the college’s main
campus in Bellingham,
also includes new offices
(Above) Brenda Henoch, center, a
for staff and faculty. A
physical therapy instructor at Whatpotential second phase
com Community College, answers
could add an additional
questions as students Teri Salsbury,
13,000 square feet of
left, Meagan McPhee, right, and
space in the future.
Rachel Elder, off camera, complete
College administraa classroom exercise in WCC’s new
tors say the new facility
Health Professions Education Center.
is a major step forward
(Right) One of the college’s training
in WCC’s effort to supmannequins. The Health Professions
ply Washington with new
health care workers as the Education Center features state-ofthe-art technology that allows classstate faces a shortage of
rooms to mimic real-life health care
registered nurses, along
settings.
with an aging population
and new demands from
the Affordable Care Act
tant and massage practitioner programs
that are likely to contribute to a rising need
passed their national licensure exams.
for more skilled medical professionals.
Program directors also note high
WCC’s health professions programs have
demand from potential new students, and
enjoyed success in recent years, with a
class space can be competitive. Combined,
graduation rate consistently above 95 perthe programs enroll 300 students each year.
cent. In 2012, all of the college’s graduates
With the demands, the college faced an
from its nursing, physical therapist assis-

EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTOS | The Bellingham Business Journal

immediate need to combine the program’s
various tracts and expand available classroom and lab space, said Cindy BurmanWoods, a workforce projects director at the
college.
Prior to the center’s completion, WCC’s

See HEALTH, Page 18

6

BBJToday.com

November 2013

A DIFFERENT
“SPACE” RACE
Washington state faces the realities
of a growing aerospace market

M

BY JERRY CORNFIELD
The (Everett) Daily Herald

att Yerbic is bullish on aerospace
in Washington, but that has not
deterred people in other states from
courting one of the owners of Everett-based
Aviation Technical Services.
And the offers are pretty darn good.
“They say we will build you a building
for nothing, we will train your workers for
nothing,” said Yerbic, the firm’s chief executive officer, at the Governor’s Aerospace
Summit Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Comcast
Arena.
The 1,200 workers of ATS repair, maintain and overhaul jetliners at Paine Field
and in Moses Lake.
“Every single region of the country is
knocking on doors like ours to say, ‘Think
about us,’” he said. “What we have seen, we
were a little bit taken aback by.”
Other states and regions are aggressive, Yerbic surmised, because they want

what Washington has: an
industry of 1,350 companies in 36 of the state’s
39 counties employing
132,500 people. Collectively, the industry
accounted for 11 percent
of gross business income
GENNA MARTIN Photo FOR THE DAILY HERALD | COURTESY TO The Bellingham Business Journal
in Washington in 2012,
Boeing employees work on the fuselage of a 777 on May 29, 2013, in the company’s Everett production facility.
according to a statewide
analysis released Tuesday,
the summit, began the day with a warning
of the Puget Sound Regional Council and
Oct. 1.
of sorts.
president of the Washington Aerospace
Yerbic’s comments didn’t surprise anyShe said lawmakers need to push for
Partnership, delivered the same message in
one. Rather, he was one of many during
transportation improvements, reform of
a softer tone.
the two-day conference who called for
worker compensation and unemployment
Industry, government and labor worked
Washington’s elected leaders to realize that
together to win the 787 program, the KCthe state must compete or risk seeing com- insurance, and a resolution on water quality regulations tied to the amount of fish
35A aerial-refueling tanker contract for
panies depart. Not the least of those firms
citizens consume.
the Air Force and, most recently, the 737
is the Boeing Co., which could, many fear,
If
they
don’t,
she
said,
Washington
will
MAX, which is to be built in Renton.
choose another state in which to design
find itself in an “arms race” with other
The “together quotient” needs to be as
and build the next generation of the popustates for aerospace businesses. “If we are
high as it’s ever been to sway Boeing to
lar 777.
to be successful, we must face reality.”
Linda Lanham, executive director of
Bob Drewel, outgoing executive director
See AEROSPACE, Page 7
Aerospace Futures Alliance, which hosted

November 2013

AEROSPACE | FROM 6

design and build the new plane, dubbed
the 777X, in Washington, Drewel said.
He insisted it’s not about making a political case to the company.
“We are working hard, very, very hard,
to make the business case that Washington
is the best place to build the 777X,” Drewel
said.
Boeing is expected to announce the
launch the 777X program at the Dubai Air
Show next month, and likely sometime
after that it will announce where it will
design and assemble the jetliner.
The firm now builds the 777 at Paine
Field, seemingly giving Washington an
edge against other states competing for the
work.
But Boeing officials are concerned about
the effect of pending regulatory changes
here and are always looking to cut costs.
They could choose to do some or all of
the work in South Carolina, where Boeing
builds some 787s and has been buying up
land in North Charleston.
In the keynote address Wednesday, Oct.
2, Gov. Jay Inslee said he’s committed to
making a strong case for Washington.
“We need to do everything humanly
possible to protect and grow our position
in this competitive environment,” he said.
“We’ll have a chance to test our mettle in
the next few months.”
The first-term Democratic governor
laid out steps he’s taken so far, such as
ensuring permitting is fast-tracked should
Boeing need to build more factory space,
and announced other action he’s willing
to take, including extending tax incentives
that benefit the aerospace industry through
2034. Those breaks, which helped secure
the 787, are set to expire in 2024.

GENNA MARTIN Photo FOR THE DAILY HERALD | COURTESY TO The Bellingham Business Journal

A 777 reaches the end of the flight line on May 29, 2013, on the Boeing factory floor in Everett.
“If Boeing makes that commitment to
the people of Washington, then I believe
the people of Washington would be willing
to commit to another 10 years of the tax
incentive,” he said.
Inslee tackled two topics on which he
and Boeing officials have been at odds:
worker-compensation reform and water
quality standards based on fish consumption.
He asserted that businesses pay lower
rates in Washington’s worker compensation program than in South Carolina or
California. And the state is getting injured
workers back on the job more quickly,

No job reports this month
BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI
The Bellingham Business Journal
The Washington State Employment
Security Department says that due to the
federal government shutdown, it was not
able to release its state and county-level job
reports for September.
Sheryl Hutchison, the department’s communications director, said via email that
state officials were not able get necessary
employment data from the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, which was closed along
with other federal agencies.

7

BBJToday.com

Also, nearly all of the state Employment
Security Department’s labor-market analysts were furloughed throughout the shutdown, due to a cut off of federal funding
that supports their work, Hutchison said.
The September report from the department on statewide jobs was due to be
released on Oct. 16. County-level reports
were due to be released on Oct. 22.

Evan Marczynski, staff reporter for The Bellingham
Business Journal, can be reached at 360-647-8805, Ext.
5052, or evan@bbjtoday.com.

he said. He gave no indication he thinks
reform is needed.
Fish consumption has been a touchy
subject, since before he took office.
Federal law requires that water discharged into rivers and Puget Sound be
clean enough to support fish that are safe
to eat. Standards for each waterway are tied
to how much residents consume.
Washington is under pressure from
environmental groups to increase the
consumption rate that is the basis of that
determination, a rate which hasn’t changed

since 1992. That would mean tougher
standards, which could require Boeing to
make millions of dollars of water-discharge
improvements.
“What I want to do is what’s right for our
state,” Inslee said. “This is a big decision. I
want to assure you we will not finalize any
rules until will we get answers to all questions we have. I really get how important
this is to our state.”

Jerry Cornfield is a staff writer for The Daily Herald in
Everett, Wash., a partner publication of The Bellingham
Business Journal.

contested proposal for a privately run
student-housing project in a residential neighborhood about three miles
from Western Washington University has
received approval from Bellingham’s hearing examiner, but with several conditions
that could alter some of the developer’s
original plans.
Dawn Sturwold, the city’s hearing examiner, approved a land-use application for
the project in a 66-page decision issued on
Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Known as University Ridge, and proposed by Ambling University Development
Group of Valdosta, Ga., the project would

be built on a heavily wooded, 11-acre plot
of land inside Bellingham’s Puget Neighborhood, on a site bordered by Consolidation Avenue, Puget Street and Nevada
Street.
University Ridge has been ardently
opposed by many nearby residents, who
have raised concerns in public comments
to the city and during a public hearing on
Sept. 11, 2013, over potential harm to the
surrounding neighborhoods’ safety, noise
levels, traffic, parking availability and overall residential character.
Ambling had originally proposed a
164-unit, four-building complex (with a
detached clubhouse) capable of housing
approximately 576 tenants inside shared
four-bedroom “suites.” Initial plans put the

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project’s estimated valuation at about $30
million, according to Charles Perry, managing partner for Ambling.
In her decision, Sturwold approved
a scaled-back version of the proposal,
allowing up to 528 bedrooms within a
maximum of 176 dwelling units. Each
unit would be limited to no more than
three bedrooms each, which would allow
University Ridge to be reconfigured into
traditional apartments should its intended
purpose prove unfeasible in the future,
Sturwold wrote.
Ambling’s project team had also sought
an exemption on a 35-foot municipal
height limit for the two buildings planned
on the east portion of the University Ridge
site, which is at a higher elevation and
closer to Puget Street. Developers wanted
permission for those buildings to be up to
58 feet tall.
Sturwold granted this variance request,
but wrote that the buildings must not rise
higher than the current elevation of Puget
Street’s center line.
Glen Peterson, a Seattle-based architect

handling University Ridge’s building and
landscape design, said during the Sept.
11 public hearing that the height variance
was necessary in order to create a design
the development team felt would be better
suited for the site.
He also said that negative impacts of
the buildings’ greater height on the homes
above the property on Puget Street could
be minimized due to the steep incline of
the site, which slopes downward from
east to west. Sturwold’s decision indicated
that the existing grade for the two easterly
buildings sits about 50 feet below the level
of Puget Street.
Sturwold is also requiring Ambling to
employ around-the-clock, on-site professional management at University Ridge,
and it must establish lease agreements with
tenants that include zero-tolerance policies
for unacceptable behavior.
Added strain on the surrounding neighborhoods’ traffic flow has been a major
point of contention to those opposed to the

hatcom County’s housing market
enjoyed gains in the third quarter of
2013, with homes sales rising nearly
21 percent along with moderate increases in
sale prices, according to a recent analysis of
Northwest Multiple Listing Service data by
Lylene Johnson of The Muljat Group.
Local NMLS real-estate agents reported
718 county home sales in the third quarter,
which ended on Sept. 30. That’s a 20.9
percent increase from the same period last
year, according to Johnson’s analysis.
Percentage increases in home sales were
particularly strong in Blaine and Birch Bay,
which together rose 38.9 percent in the
third quarter, and in Bellingham, where
sales increased by 24.2 percent.
The median sale price for homes in
Whatcom County in the third quarter
increased 4.7 percent to $266,250, which
is the highest median price the county
has recorded since 2008, when it stood at
$275,000.
Johnson, a longtime Whatcom County
real-estate agent who has issued reports
tracking local housing market trends since
2003, said that the change in price ranges
on sold properties in Bellingham during
September 2013 was perhaps the most significant finding from her recent analysis.
In 2012, Bellingham homes that sold
below $300,000 made up 63 percent of the
year’s total sales, according to Johnson.
Those sold within the $300,000 to
$500,000 range made up 25 percent of the
total.
But in September of this year, the number of homes sold in both of those ranges
each accounted for 41 percent of the market.

Johnson said this indicates more homeowners are taking opportunities to upgrade
and either buy or sell higher-priced homes.
The shift could also be evidence of a new
influx of home buyers from out of town,
she added.
While the overall third-quarter numbers
were positive, some smaller communities,
including Lynden and Nooksack Valley,
saw declines in home sales and sale prices.
Yet Johnson said it is difficult to draw
broad conclusions from data in smaller
markets, where percentages can sway
greatly based on just a handful of new
sales, listings or sale prices.
While the county’s overall market usually slows down following the busy summer sales season, Johnson said that with
rising inventory rates and pending sales
outpacing new listings, Whatcom County’s
real-estate world still “feels very active.”
She also downplayed potential negative
impacts on the market due to the recent
federal government shutdown.
“[For] most transactions, it wasn’t shut
down long enough to impact them greatly,”
she said. “I don’t think we’re going to see
any long-term ramifications from that.”
Whatcom County home sales, Q3 2013
Includes number of units sold, median and
average sales prices and average days on
market. Percentage changes compare Q3
2013 to Q3 2012.
Total county
Units sold: 718 (up 20.9 percent)
Median price: $266,250 (up 4.7 percent)
Average price: $299,464 (up 3.9 percent)
Days on market: 80 (down 25.2 percent)

See REAL ESTATE, Page 27

November 2013

9

BBJToday.com

HOTELS | FROM 1

The Home2 Suites will
cater to business travelers,
and it will employ between
Northwest Avenue will
25-35 people, Williams
attempt to attract both leisure
said.
and business travelers, Shaiza
In addition to the hotel,
Damji, managing director for
Erck Hotels plans to either
360 Hotel Group, told The
sell or lease about one acre
Bellingham Business Journal
of its available property, in
in June.
hopes of attracting a new
The hotel features amenities
restaurant or retail busithat cater to both, including
ness, he added.
rooms with separate living,
Erck was one of four
working and sleeping areas,
firms that submitted
Wi-Fi and high-speed Interproposals to the Port of
net access, laundry services,
Bellingham in fall 2012 for
a fitness center and a shuttle
a hotel development site
service with trips to the Bellacross the street from the
ingham airport.
Bellingham International
The property also holds a
Airport.
fourth-floor terrace that can
The firm ultimately chobe reserved for private parties,
sen, Hotel Services Group
as well as 1,700 square feet of
LLC of Mount Vernon, will
meeting-room space.
build its Holiday Inn on
360 Hotel Group’s Springa port-owned plot of land
Hill Suites is the first phase
within walking distance to
of a development that will
the airport’s terminal. A
eventually include a second
lease agreement between
hotel next door, an 83-room
the developer and the port
TownePlace Suites, which is
requires the Holiday Inn
EVAN MARCZYNSKI Photo | The Bellingham Business Journal
also a Marriott brand.
open its doors for business
A La Quinta Inn on Bakerview Road in Bellingham under development in May 2013. Several new hotels are expected to
Damji said the TownePlace
by Nov. 15, 2015. But Dan
open in Bellingham over the next few years.
Suites, which markets to
Mitzel, chairman of Hotel
extended-stay guests, could
Services Group, told port
Williams said.
Williams said Home2 Suites focus on
start initial development
commissioners in June that
“ecologically friendly” features, includThe hotel will be about 56,000 square
within the next six months. Both Marriott
he would hope to complete the project
ing add-ons such as electric-car charging
feet in size, and its current plans include
hotels would be managed jointly, she said.
before the summer travel season in 2015.
an indoor pool, fitness center, breakfastOn the other side of the street, the future stations (which the SpringHill Suites also
service space and a game room. Williams
features), that he believes will make it a
Home2 Suites by Hilton could be completEvan Marczynski, staff reporter for The Bellingham
popular choice for travelers to the area.
said the project’s total valuation should be
Business Journal, can be reached at 360-647-8805, Ext.
ed by next summer, said Dustan Williams,
“I think it’s a good fit for Bellingham,”
around $14 million.
5052, or evan@bbjtoday.com.
CEO of its developer, Erck Hotels.

Whidbey Island Bank and Heritage Bank plan merger
All bank branches outside of Whidbey Island will take on Heritage name

W

BY CHUCK TAYLOR
The (Everett) Daily Herald

ashington Banking Co., the Oak
Harbor-based parent of Whidbey
Island Bank, will merge sometime
next year with Olympia-based Heritage
Financial Corp., the companies said Thursday, Oct. 24. The combined company will
take the Heritage name and have $3.3 billion in assets and 73 branches in the I-5
corridor from Bellingham to Portland.
Six Washington Banking branches on the
island itself will retain the Whidbey Island
Bank name. All other Whidbey branches,
including those in Snohomish County, will
be called Heritage Bank.
The bank has four branches in Bellingham.
The combined Heritage Financial Corp.
will be based in Olympia. But the merged
entity’s executives and members of the
board of directors will be a mix from both
firms.
Heritage President and CEO Brian
Vance will retain that title. Washington
Banking President and CEO Jack Wagner
will become an advisor to the merged
company. At 70, Wagner is ready for retirement, but he wanted to ensure Whidbey
Island Bank and its employees had a solid
future.
“Brian and I have known each other
quite a while,” Wagner said Friday, Oct. 25.
“Our banks are quite similar.” The compa-

nies are so complementary, he said, that for
a long time people in community banking
have asked why they shouldn’t merge.
“A few months ago, we sat down and
said, ‘Let’s take a look at it,’” Wagner said.
Wagner said community bank mergers are being driven by a need for revenue
growth in the absence of a strong econom-

shares of Heritage stock and $2.75 in cash
for every share of Washington Banking
stock they own.
In essence, Washington Banking stockholders will be paid about $16 per share
in consideration of the merger. Based on
share prices Thursday, the deal is worth
$265.1 million to Washington Banking

The combination of Whidbey Island Bank and Heritage Bank will create
the 11th-biggest bank in the state, based on deposits, and the thirdbiggest bank among those headquartered in Washington.
Washington Banking President and CEO Jack Wagner said community
bank mergers are being driven by a need for revenue growth in the
absence of a strong economic rebound. “We’d been hoping for organic
growth” in the bank’s business, Wagner said, but it didn’t materialize.
Whidbey Island Bank has four branches in Bellingham, all of which will
be renamed as Heritage Banks.
ic rebound.
“We’d been hoping for organic growth”
in the bank’s business, Wagner said, but it
didn’t materialize.
Both companies are publicly traded.
A prospectus filed by Washington Banking with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission says that the Whidbey Island
company’s shareholders will receive 0.89

Co.’s owners.
Whidbey Island Bank and Heritage Bank
are similar in many ways—nearly identical
in size and with similar histories as community banks which not only survived the
recession but acquired several troubled
banks in the process.
Founded in 1961, Whidbey Island Bank
has grown to 31 branches in Island, Sno-

homish and four other adjacent counties.
Today it has deposits worth $1.4 billion
and a $1.1 billion loan portfolio.
Heritage Bank was founded in 1927
and has 42 branches, mostly in the South
Sound area and points south. In Yakima
and Kittitas counties, Heritage does business as Central Valley Bank.
A key difference is that Whidbey Island
Bank has a bigger consumer loan portfolio,
while Heritage is primarily a commercial
lender.
The two banks have no overlapping territory, and neither has a significant presence in King County. The prospectus states
that the merger will give the new company
the heft to possibly expand to Seattle and
Bellevue. Wagner said the Eastside suburbs
are the most promising area in which Heritage could expand.
The combined bank will be the 11thbiggest in the state, based on deposits, and
the third-biggest bank among those headquartered in Washington.
Both companies’ boards of directors
have approved the deal, but it is subject to
regulatory approval and requires the consent of shareholders of both companies.
The merger is expected to be complete in
the first half of 2014.

Chuck Taylor is a staff writer for The Daily Herald in Everett,
Wash., a partner publication of The Bellingham Business
Journal.

ALL IN GOOD SUN
Solar builder anticipates more business and
more hiring in 2014, but cut-off dates on
buyer incentives make industry unpredictable

E

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI
The Bellingham Business Journal

ven with a production floor full of
high-tech machinery at Bellingham’s
itek Energy, which produces solar
modules, one item Karl Untershuetz is
particularly eager to show off is a small,
modified table that allows
workers to efficiently attach
frames onto finished panels.
Unterschuetz, the company’s business development manager, said the
table’s design was not
developed by a highly paid
research and development
team, but instead by two
employees on itek’s production line.
“Our efficiencies are
found by the people that
are working there, most of
the time,” Untershuetz said.
Skilled staff members are one of several
reasons itek’s directors give for the company’s success.
The solar manufacturing industry in
Washington state is small, with itek being
just one of two firms—the other is Arlington-based Silicon Energy—that produce
solar panels and inverters that are certified
by the state Department of Revenue as

“made in Washington.”
But since its founding in September
2011, itek has grown to be the leader.
This year, the company is on pace
to build four megawatts worth of solar
EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTOS | The Bellingham Business Journal
modules, which would be twice that
of its 2012 output. With a current staff
State Rep. Jeff Morris, left, D-Mount Vernon, watches solar modules exit a solar-layout machine
of more than 30 people, itek expects
and move on to the next stage of production at itek Energy’s manufacturing plant, during an
enough activity in 2014
Oct. 10 visit the lawmaker made to the Bellingham company’s facility. Morris is joined by Eric
to add a second produc- Schueler, itek’s director of operations.
tion shift.
(Inset) Detail of one of two laminating machines itek Energy uses for solar-module production.
And as company
directors prepare for
make decisions.”
think that’s where we’re headed,” Samson
more business in 2014,
Samson said the company has been in
said.
they also have plans to
Unterschuetz said itek’s products are
compete on a grander scale. capital-spending mode for most of its early
lifespan, mainly pouring money back into
currently sold exclusively business-toKelly Samson, itek’s vice
its production facility, which is located
business, mainly to solar installers around
president and founding
at 3886 Hammer Drive in Bellingham’s
the region. The company has also begun
principal, said he believes
Irongate Neighborhood.
selling modules to a few electrical-supply
the company’s business
itek bought two new laminating
firms, he said.
model has benefited from
machines in 2012, which quadrupled its
The high cost of solar-panel installations
an early decision to keep
hourly production capacity. Its also recentfor homes and businesses has been a conits ownership group small,
ly added machinery to make the process of sistent challenge for players in the market.
focus on high-quality production and
laying out and soldering individual solar
To combat this, Unterschuetz has
build a strong support base with firms that
cells into panels more efficient.
focused on developing good relationships
install itek’s products.
Looking ahead, Samson said the compa- with vendors, which he said has helped the
Samson also credited the expertise and
ny expects a lucrative future in producing a company negotiate better prices with supinitial vision of company president John
next-generation solar module with smaller, pliers of solar cells and other materials necFlannagan.
more energy-dense cells that would be
essary for itek’s modules. The company’s
“More than anything else, frankly, it’s
easier to install onto small roof spaces.
focus on developing technology to give its
a very dynamic industry,” Samson said.
“There’s a gap in the product offerings
“We have the virtue of being fairly nimble.
See SOLAR, Page 17
nationwide right now in that space, and I
We’re a small ownership group that can

RESERVE YOUR
AD SPACE IN
THE NEXT
BOOK OF LISTS
The 2014 edition of
the BBJ Book of Lists
is just a few months
away! This comprehensive annual directory features listings
of leading firms in
Bellingham and Whatcom County, including
accounting firms, law
offices, largest private
employers, home
builders and more.
Call 360-647-8805
or email tbouchard@
bbjtoday.com, for
advertising rates and
more information on
how you can reserve
your space today.
Publish date:
Monday, Feb. 3
Ad deadline:
Friday, Jan. 10

he Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of
Commerce & Industry is hosting their 9th
Annual Awards Dinner on December 4,
2013, from 5:00-9:00 pm, at the Lakeway Best
Western Inn ballroom.
This annual event is a celebration of Whatcom
County’s business community. The evening will
highlight the growth, innovation of Chamber member businesses and the past year. This year’sdinner theme is a festive “Black and White The Annual Awards Dinner will feature a livraffle as well
as a silent auction with plenty of time for guests
to catch up with one another. Raffle packages
include vacation getaways, vehicle maintenance

The ceremony will be emceed by the vivacious
and entertaining Bob Hagedorn of Snapper Schuler Kenner Insurance.
Awards given will celebrate; the Large Business of the Year, the Small Business of the Year,
the Nonprofit of the Year, the Green Business of
the Year, Man of the Year, Woman of the Year and
Young Professional of the Year.
Bellingham/Whatcom County Tourism will also
present the award for Tourism Patron of the Year.

The finalists for the 2013 Small Business
of the Year are:
LaserPoint Awards & Promotional
Solutions
V’s Barbershop
Bellingham Wedding and Event
Rentals
Chazzam Signs & Graphics
Signs Plus
The finalists for the 2013 Large Business
of the Year are:
Windermere Real Estate
Haggen, Inc.
Whidbey Island Bank
BP Cherry Point Refinery
Rocket Foods
The 2013 Green Business of the Year and Nonprofit of the Year will be released in late November. The businesses who won the other awards
will be announced at the Awards Dinner.
Founded in 1911, the Chamber is charting its
course onto the next 100 years. What will remain
the same, though is our dedication to promoting
the local community, creating a strong economy,
facilitating factually grounded dialogue with business, and representing the interests of business
with government while providing networking opportunities for its members.

RSVP for a full table or single seats on the Chamber website, www.bellingham.com, by November
23, 2013.

What An SBA Preferred
Lender Can Do For You.
As an SBA Preferred Lender, we can initiate, process and approve
your loan internally. And about 95% of the time, that’s exactly what
we do. That means less red tape and a lot less waiting for answers.
In fact, most of our SBA loans take only a couple of weeks
from application to being approved.
Why not see if an SBA loan might be a good fit for your
business? Call or stop by and talk with any of our helpful
commercial lenders.

For more information, just call us at (360) 757-0170, or visit www.wibank.com
Client:

Whidbey Island Bank

14

BBJToday.com

November 2013

DID YOU
KNOW?

FARM
POWER
by

Jae Easterbrooks

VP/Relationship Manager
One PacificCoast Bank

Skagit County natives Kevin and Daryl
Maas grew up surrounded by dairy farmers. As children, the brothers watched as
the pressure from low milk prices and
real estate development forced family after family out of business.

A

s adults, they
wondered if renewable energy might offer a way
to sustain these small
farms and help reverse
a long-term trend in
America - loss of precious farmland and
farmers. So in 2007, the
Maas brothers met with
Skagit County dairy
farmers and dairy service businesses. Nearly
all the farmers said an
anaerobic digester –
which employs bacteria

to separate and transform dairy manure into
useful products and
converts the resulting
biogas to electricity would provide essential
solutions they needed,
in addition to helping
them lower their cost to
do business. By spring
of that year, the Maas
brothers made a decision to found Farm
Power Northwest LLC.
The timing and economic
environment
was extremely chal-

Whatcom County
has a camel farm.
Camel Safari at
Beldar Haven Farm
was founded by
Guy Seeklus after
purchasing
his
first camel, Lexi,
in 2012.

Whatcom County
Jersey Cows

lenging.
Kevin and
Daryl soon faced a chorus of rejections from
the finance community, most of whom had no
experience or interest
in financing renewable
energy projects. Older
digester systems had
developed a reputation
for poor performance
in prior decades and
American banks and
many dairymen were
skeptical about their
value and longevity
despite the availability

of improved technology. While these beneficial systems could be
found by the thousands
all over Europe (where
governmental energy
policy heavily influences banks and farmers,
unlike the U.S.), by the
end of 2007 there were
less than a hundred
across America and
most were concentrated in the Midwest.
Nonetheless, the opportunity to educate
American
farmers,

developers and financiers regarding the
value of these systems
was enticing. The key
seemed to be ‘community digesters’ where
the dairy-business risk
could be mitigated by
a group of farms while
the benefits of a large
and efficient digester
could be spread across
the same group with
tangible benefits. Other upsides for dairy
partners included sub
(continued on page 3)

◆

The Sparks Museum of Electrical
Invention in Bellingham has the
largest collection
of electricity related items in the
world.

◆

Making the Most Out of Your Biz After Biz Sponsorship

by Amanda Brock, Marketing and Events Coordinator at The Unity Group

T

he Chamber provides many opportunities to network and
promote your business,
one of those avenues
being a Business After
Business (BAB) sponsorship. These events,
however, require a lot
more than writing a
check and picking your
date. As the marketing
and events coordinator
for The Unity Group
and host of one of the

Chamber’s most successful BAB events, I
wanted to share some
of my personal tips to
get the most of out your
sponsorship.

Set the Date

Be methodical about
your decision. Choose
a date that might coincide with a new product
launch or completed
building improvement.

Plan Your Event

If you are not a seasoned event host, here
are the basics.
• Set Your Budget – As
with any marketing
effort, you will need to
consider the total estimated cost of the event.
The sponsorship cost is
just a piece of your associated expenses. BAB
is great for added exposure and could be translated to a budget you

would otherwise spend
on an expense like print
advertising.
• Get Inspiration- If
you have not already
attended a BAB, try to
attend at least one before you host. Having
a benchmark of what
others have done can
give you inspiration to
take your event a step
further.
• Create an AgendaPreparing an agenda

will help you to create a
pre-function checklist
and ensure your event
runs smoothly.
• Establish Your Wow
Factor – You can improve your attendance
by adding something
unique to your event.
This could be gathering
fun prizes, coordinating an engaging activity or providing a delicious spread.
(continued on page 4)

photo: Tyler Bolken

In the 1950’s, the
Bellingham Chamber of Commerce
used to hold an
annual air show
at the Bellingham
International Airport.

◆

photo: NS Newsflash

In 1933, Bellingham had three
daily newspapers
and various weekly publications in
English, German
and Swedish devoted to farming,
mining and labor.

U

November 2013

15

BBJToday.com

FARM POWER continued from Page 2
stantially reduced cost
and price certainty for
cow bedding, better
control over bacteria in
the manure (affecting
water quality which is
invaluable for regulatory compliance) and opportunities for revenue
sharing. With the partnership of Andgar Corporation of Ferndale,
the Pacific Northwest’s
experts in constructing
and managing anaerobic GHD digesters (the
most installed systems
in America), the Maas
brothers’ entrepreneurial instinct was able to
succeed.
By the end of 2008,
America’s archaic system of price controls
for milk and related
products had collapsed
and it had become impossible for smaller
dairymen to operate
profitably. Many made
the decision to leave
the dairy industry alto-

gether and some chose
to sell their dairy herds
for slaughter. The situation favored larger
operators with the resources to withstand
the economic turbulence; smaller operators simply had to endure or fail. However,
those smaller operators
that partnered with a
digester stood a much
better chance of survival, the key being tangible reduction of their
operating expenses due
to the partnership.
Today, Farm Power
owns and operates a
fleet of five anaerobic
digesters in the Pacific
Northwest (including
a performing project
in Lynden)—working
with fifteen farms, producing up to 4.25MW
of renewable electricity and reducing manure-methane
emissions by the equivalent
of 40,000 tons of car-

bon dioxide annually.
The Maas brothers are
regarded as innovators
and leaders in their
sector,
demonstrating the cutting edge
possibilities of digesters and their potential
advantages for dairy
operators,
business
profitability, the environment and communities. Moreover, the
credibility of anaerobic
digesters is growing
throughout the Northwest as a result of the
successful implementation of these systems.
As a triple bottom line
lender, One PacificCoast Bank is concerned about a number
of trends including climate change and the
deterioration of the
American food system
in favor of large industrial food providers
Lending opportunities
that benefit multiple
areas of the bank’s mis-

Where Our Family
is Committed to Yours!

sion such as on-farm
renewable energy systems are of high value.
We were certain financing Farm Power’s
initial project could be
effectively and profitably deployed and
most of all were convinced the Maas brothers could ultimately
be successful in their
mission to help their
neighbors and advance Farm Power’s Anaerobic Manure Digester- Lynden LLC Project
the renewable energy
small hydro. We expect being a part of future
industry.
Today OPCB contin- Whatcom County will successes. This is an
ues to focus on financ- continue to be a major example of what we call
ing environmentally contributor for Wash- beneficial banking.
friendly forms of re- ington in these critical
newable energy includ- areas of sustainabiliing digesters, solar and ty and look forward to

Visit us at www.emeritus.com
or call 360-647-1254 for more information.

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16

BBJToday.com

November 2013

BIZ AFTER BIZ continued from Page 2
• Recruit Representatives – Your sales staff
should be front and
center at your BAB.
Not to sell but to help
convey your brand and
help answer any questions about your organization. Chamber Ambassadors will also be
available to help greet
but you will need to rely
on your staff to set-up,
break down and, most
importantly, fully represent YOUR brand.

Promote Your Value

Do not assume your audience will know much
about your product or
services. Capitalize on
this opportunity to educate on your value in
a way that is approachable and relatable. Re-

member, you are not
there to sell, but inform.

Follow-up

As with any networking
event, follow-up with
new connections even
if it is just a thank you
note for attending. Do

not add attendees to
your mailing list without them choosing to
opt in. A general email
to thank them is okay.
Focus your efforts on
qualified leads and creating meaningful connections.

Ready to host a BAB?
Contact Marvin at the
Chamber of Commerce,
734-1330.

Amanda Brock is the
marketing and events coordinator at The Unity Group.
She earned her Bachelor’s

Degree in Communications from the University
of North Florida. Amanda
coordinates over 60 corporate events per year including workshops, seminars,
fundraising campaigns,
trade shows and public appearances.

Strong, Local Relationships

Promote Early

Invite prospects, clients
and friends.
Be sure to add your
sponsorship to local
event calendars, your
Social Media outlets,
your website and newsletters. If your location
receives a lot of traffic,
hang posters for maximum exposure. Personal invitations from
staff will go a long way.
Send a reminder to
guests the week of your
sponsorship.

“Our relationship with WECU®’s Business Services Team began in 2009 and we have
been thoroughly pleased with the level of service and personal attention we have
received. It is crucial to have a strong one on one relationship with someone at your
credit union. Kent Bouma has made the transition to WECU® easy and seamless and
in the process has become a great advocate and friend of our business.”

- Klaus Klix, Ferrotek Corporation

Kent Bouma of WECU® & Klaus Klix of Ferrotek Corporation

Prep Your Staff

Be sure to communicate with your staff
when and where your
event will take place.
Remind them the day
of to ensure workspaces are tidied up and any
customer information
is filed away.

Create an Inviting Atmosphere

Welcome guests and
give them the “lay of
the land.” Be sure your
greeters point out features like where they
can enter a drawing,
check out a featured
display or participate in
activities.

Engage Your Guests

Encourage your representatives to chat with
any wall flowers or to
help introduce attendees to other guests. If
someone is not engaged, they will most
likely leave your event
early and have an unfavorable opinion about
their time spent there.

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Healthy doesn’t
have to be hard.

November 2013

SOLAR | FROM 12
panels better efficiency and power output
has helped make them attractive to buyers,
Unterschuetz said.
State and federal government incentives
help, too.
Tax exemptions and other incentives
have helped make solar-power systems
affordable for more home and business
owners. Standard panel arrays can come
with hefty price tags in the tens and thousands of dollars.
A major boost comes from the state
Department of Revenue, which offers a
complete exemption on sales-and-use taxes
for equipment and labor needed to install
solar systems that produce 10 kilowatts of
power or less. It offers a 75 percent exemption for larger systems.
Also, under a renewable energy cost
recovery program enacted by Washington
state lawmakers in 2005, utility companies
can pay incentives to customers who produce electricity through rooftop solar systems, earning tax credits equal to the cost
of those payments.
But incentives have built-in shelf lives.
The cost-recovery system will expire in

17

BBJToday.com
2020 if it is not extended by lawmakers.
And the tax exemption, which was set to
expire this past summer, was extended in
its final hours by the Legislature. It will be
available to solar-panel owners through
June 30, 2018, or Jan. 1, 2020, depending
on their equipment types and sizes.
Samson said cutoffs on incentives make
it more difficult to predict ebbs and flows
of the solar business, which is already a
risky and fast-moving industry.
He supported a recent measure, House
Bill 1301, whose main sponsor was state
Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Mount Vernon, that
among other items would replace the “sunset” provision in the cost-recovery program
with a rolling 10-year voucher system.
Instead of having to apply for incentives
each year, renewable-energy producers
would be able to receive vouchers guaranteeing incentives for a full decade.
Morris, a longtime proponent of solar
and other renewable energy options, has
said such changes would give solar customers assurances that the incentives enticing
them to buy panel arrays would not disappear before they are able to pay off their
costs.
Samson said that most of his colleagues
and competitors have long lists of changes

EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTO | The Bellingham Business Journal

itek Energy employees prepare modules for the laminating process.
they would like to see made to the current
incentive programs.
But the cut-off dates on cost-recovery
and incentive programs add uncertainty to
the future of the solar business, he said.
“Not only is the time running out, but

more importantly, it doesn’t really reflect
the evolution of the industry,” he said.

Evan Marczynski, staff reporter for The Bellingham
Business Journal, can be reached at 360-647-8805, Ext.
5052, or evan@bbjtoday.com.

PeaceHealth St. Joseph names new chief administrator

D

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI
The Bellingham Business Journal

ale Zender, the chief financial officer
of the PeaceHealth Northwest Network, has been named the new chief
administrative officer for Bellingham’s St.
Joseph Medical Center, which is the city’s
largest employer.
In his new role, Zender will take over
the hospital’s day-to-day administrative
duties from Nancy Steiger, the CEO and
“chief mission officer” for the Northwest
Network, said Amy Cloud, a PeaceHealth
spokesperson. The Northwest Network

RESERVE YOUR
AD SPACE IN
THE NEXT
BOOK OF LISTS
The 2014 edition of
the BBJ Book of Lists
is just a few months
away! This comprehensive annual directory features listings
of leading firms in
Bellingham and Whatcom County, including
accounting firms, law
offices, largest private
employers, home
builders and more.
Call 360-647-8805
or email tbouchard@
bbjtoday.com, for
advertising rates and
more information on
how you can reserve
your space today.
Publish date:
Monday, Feb. 3
Ad deadline:
Friday, Jan. 10

includes PeaceHealth’s facilities in Whatcom, Skagit and San Juan counties, as well
as in Alaska.
Cloud said Zender will
continue his duties as
CFO for the Northwest
Network. She emphasized
that the personnel change
is simply giving Zender
more responsibility at
St. Joseph Medical Center, not creating a new
Dale Zender
administrative position at
the hospital.

Steiger, who will continue to work out of
Bellingham, will focus on broader development endeavors within the Northwest
Network, including new PeaceHealth partnerships with UW Medicine and Skagit
Regional Health.
An announcement from Steiger and
Kevin Walstrom, senior vice president and
CFO for PeaceHealth, notes that Zender’s
promotion is part of an effort within
PeaceHealth to strengthen its operating
structure, which the organization splits
into several regional networks of care.
Northwest Network leaders made

similar changes in July at the PeaceHealth
Ketchikan Medical Center in Alaska. Ken
Tonjes was appointed to an interim administrative role at the hospital there.
Tonjes is also the CFO for the Ketchikan
hospital. He previously held the same position for PeaceHealth’s Columbia Network.

PeaceHealth, Skagit Regional
Health plan alliance
The governing boards of PeaceHealth
and Skagit County Public Hospital District

See PEACEHEALTH, Page 27

United Way
of Whatcom County
unitedwaywhatcom.org

18

BBJToday.com

HEALTH | FROM 5

health professions instructors taught in
labs scattered around the college, with faculty many times forced to cart equipment
across campus to use in class, BurmanWoods said.
But with scarce state funding for new
instructional space and high-tech educational tools, college administrators had to
get creative.
The college’s separate nonprofit fundraising entity, the WCC Foundation, developed a partnership with a consortium of
local developers, including Pete Dawson of
Dawson Construction, Ken Hertz of Blossom Management Corp., and Faruk Taysi
of Integrated Real Estate Management
Inc. The agreement allowed developers to
construct the building, then lease it to the

HOUSING | FROM 8
University Ridge project, many who want
upgrades to surrounding streets and intersections. An April 2013 study and a followup analysis done in September both found
that while University Ridge would increase
traffic levels on nearby streets, the existing
infrastructure would still function within
acceptable levels.
As a measure to mitigate the added traffic, Sturwold wrote that Ambling must
provide shuttle service for its residents to
the nearby Lincoln Creek Park and Ride,
Western Washington University’s campus
and downtown Bellingham.
Both Ambling’s plans and city staff rec-

November 2013

Foundation, which in turn sub-leased it to
the college itself.
Bob Tull, a member of the Foundation’s
board of directors, said the speed of the
process was an important element in developing the unique plan. The Foundation
had also weighed the option of remodeling
existing buildings available nearby, but the
distinct requirements for medical-training
facilities made that option difficult, he said.
Once the plan was in place, the entire
project took about one year to complete.
“We had a critical awareness of the
urgency of the need. Getting [the building]
going quickly was a tremendous advantage,” Tull said.
The project’s successful completion has
led college leaders to wonder if its development model might serve as a template for
other building projects, particularly at a
time when capital funding from the state

Legislature is limited.
Kathi Hiyane-Brown, WCC’s president,
said the college would look closely at private-partnership models, along with other
funding options, when considering other
new facilities. She described the completion of the Health Professions Education
Center as “one of the highlights of my
career.”
“There was a spirit behind the building,
and a concept behind the building that
talked about partnership and collaboration,” Hiyane-Brown said.
Several other major construction projects at the college are in various stages of
planning and construction. They include
an expansion of the college’s sports pavilion and student recreation center, a proposed “learning commons” facility in an
empty plot of land on the east end of campus, and additional lab space for the col-

lege’s growing computer science program.
But while the speed and ease of working outside of traditional pathways to find
funding is alluring, Hiyane-Brown said she
hoped these new possibilities would not
overshadow the important role state lawmakers play in supporting community and
technical colleges.
Sue Cole, the current chair of WCC’s
board of trustees, said she believed the new
center represented a “forward thinking”
approach to meeting current education and
workplace training needs.
With community and technical colleges
across the state strapped for cash, and
emphasis on technical degrees and certificates growing, educators are seeing more
possibilities in private-sector partnerships
and other collaborations, Cole said.
“We’ve got to be creative in today’s environment,” she said.

ommendations to the hearing examiner
assume that the number of University
Ridge residents relying on shuttles or
Whatcom Transportation Authority buses
would minimize added traffic impacts, a
premise that opponents of the project have
not agreed with.
Bellingham city planners will spend the
next several weeks reviewing the hearing examiner’s decision, said Jeff Thomas,
director of the city’s planning and community development department.
Ambling will have to obtain city building
permits and a critical-areas permit, due to
the geologically hazardous areas that exist
on the site as well as a needed buffer from
a wetland to the north, before starting
construction. Developers will also need to

provide an updated transportation concurrency certificate, which will map out routes
University Ridge residents will likely take
when traveling to and from the property.
Under state law, appeals of the hearing
examiner’s decision can be filed within 21
days in Whatcom County Superior Court.
While acknowledging neighboring
residents’ concerns on tenant behavior,
Ambling’s directors have said, in public
documents and in prior interviews, that its
student-housing properties are run with
strict controls.
Tenants in Ambling’s student-housing
developments are required to pass criminal
background checks, and they must agree to
adhere to the behavioral codes of conduct
established by their universities.
The company has built more than 50
student-housing projects in the U.S. since
its founding in 1997. Nearly all of those
properties are located on the East Coast,
primarily in the South.
But Bellingham residents opposed to the
University Ridge project are not convinced
that the company will be able to keep control over the nearly 500 tenants that might
end up living there.
Opponents also worry over how they
will cope with a residential development
out of character with the other properties
in their neighborhoods, which are in an
area dominated by single-family homes.
The land that University Ridge would be
built on is zoned for denser, multi-family
residential development.

The board of directors for the Puget
Neighborhood Association wrote a letter in
June addressed to Kathy Bell, a Bellingham
city planner, that covered a wide range of
concerns that it says are shared by neighbors, including that the neighborhood as
a whole “finds that this development, as
currently proposed, creates an impact on
to our community that will deprive our
current residents of continued rights and
privileges to the continued enjoyment of
their property.”
Joseph Carpenter, president of the
nearby Samish Neighborhood Association,
said during the Sept. 11 public hearing that
he and his neighbors have expected denser
development in the area for some time.
They are not all generally opposed to new
projects, either, he added.
But if development must come, residents
deserve assurances that the city will provide appropriate upgrades to traffic and
other infrastructure improvements, Carpenter said.
“I’m very concerned about the precedent
that this sets in our neighborhood and in
Puget,” he said.
Download Sturwold’s full decision contained in the Web version of this article,
online at pnw.cc/qfQRF.

A preliminary conceptual drawing shows one of four apartment buildings the Valdosta,
Ga.-based Ambling University Development Group wants to build in its proposed University
Ridge complex, three miles from Western Washington University.

November 2013

19

BBJToday.com

PUBLIC RECORDS
Government information relevant to business

Business licenses

Listings, which feature both new and renewed licenses, include
business name, licensee name and the business’ physical
address. Records are obtained from the city of Bellingham.

Includes commercial building activity with an estimated valuation listed at $10,000 or more. Records are obtained from the
City of Bellingham’s Permit Center. Status updates on permits
are available on on the city’s website at pnw.cc/qgu67.

BUZZ | FROM 4
YWCA Bellingham, founded in 1907,
has operated since 1915 at 1026 N. Forest
St., in a building funded by the Larrabee
family.
YWCA Bellingham served 107 single
homeless women in 2012 with housing and
case management. Its Back to Work Boutique provided assistance to 525 women
last year.
Women in need of emergency assistance
may continue to call Womencare Shelter’s
24-hour helpline at 360-734-3438 or 877227-3360.

TD Curran opens new location
in Kirkland
TD Curran opened its new Kirkland
location on Saturday, Oct. 26, which is now
the third store the company operates in
northwest Washington.
The new 2,200-square-foot store is inside
a new mixed-use development called Slater
116, just east of Interstate 405 in Kirkland.
(Read more about Slater 116 from our
partners at the Kirkland Reporter.) The
location employs 15 people and serves customers in King and Snohomish counties.
TD Curran, which also has stores in
Bellingham and Burlington, sells Mac computers and a full line of Apple products,
including iPhones served by Verizon Wireless, iPads, iPods, peripherals and other
accessories. The company also offers oneon-one training for customers.
As an Apple Authorized Service Center,
TD Curran is able to handle products covered through Apple’s warranty terms. All of
company’s employees are certified by Apple
and undergo continuous training to learn
about new products, technical specifications, policies and procedures.
TD Curran’s stores are on pace to record
$35 million in sales this year, more than
doubling its sales volume of $16 million in
2012, according to a news release from the
company.

Tax liens of $5,000 or more issued by the Internal Revenue Service. Listings include taxpayer name(s), lien amount, document
number and filing date. Records are obtained locally from the
Whatcom County Auditor’s Office.

is recruiting volunteers to become Bellingham “ambassadors” to represent the region
and assist visitors to Bellingham and Whatcom County.
Ambassadors will greet travelers at the
Bellingham International Airport, the Bellingham Cruise Terminal and in Bellis Fair
Mall, with the goal of making travel and
tourism to Whatcom County a positive
experience for visitors and locals by providing assistance in travel facilities, making recommendations and offering area
knowledge.
Volunteers receive professional training
in hospitality and regional information
to enhance traveler experiences. Those
seeking professional work experience or
community involvement are encouraged
to apply.
Ambassadors are required to complete
one four-hour shift per week for 3-6
months. Days and times vary depending
on availability. Interested applicants must
be at least 18 years old to apply.
For more information, visit www.bellingham.org, call 360-671-3990 or email
Becca@bellingham.org.

Interfaith Community Health
Center opens new pharmacy
The Interfaith Community Health
Center in Bellingham opened its longanticipated pharmacy last month, a central
component of the nonprofit facility’s recent
expansion.
The pharmacy, located at 220 Unity St.,
will allow Interfaith’s patients to get prescriptions filled on site with a sliding-fee
scale that discounts medications according
to household size and income. More than
14,000 individuals receive their medical,
dental or behavioral-health care at Interfaith Community Health Center, according
to the organization.
The new pharmacy is managed by Lisa
Nelson, who holds a doctorate in the pharmacy field.

Thai House Express now open
in Bellingham
Dale and Nimnual Boe recently opened
Thai House Express at 505 32nd St. in

State tax warrants

Tax warrants of $5,000 or more issued by Washington state government agencies and filed locally in Whatcom County Superior
Court. Listings include taxpayer name(s), warrant amount, the
state agency filing the warrant, case number and filing date.
Records are obtained from the Whatcom county Superior Court
Clerk’s Office.

Bellingham, sharing space in a Happy Valley Neighborhood shopping center that
includes Pizza Time and the Mi Casa Mexican Restaurant, among other businesses.
As an offshoot of the Boes’ Thai House
restaurant that has operated on Telegraph
Road in Bellingham for more than 15
years, the “express” version will feature a
smaller dining room and a trimmed-down
menu that highlights dishes that have proven popular at the original location, Dale
Boe said. He added that with the new location closer to Western Washington University, he hopes to attract more foot traffic
from students and nearby residents.

The Local pub opens in
downtown Bellingham
A new pub created by the owners of
Menace Brewing in Ferndale has opened in
Railroad Avenue in downtown Bellingham.
The Local, which is at 1427 Railroad
Ave., the former downtown home of Cicchitti’s Pizza, serves as Menace’s off-site
tasting room. It also showcases select beers
from other regional brewers, and serves
food designed to pair easily with beer
selections. The menu, which will focus on
small plates, will change regularly as the
pub’s taps rotate.
The pub is owned by Benjanin Buccarelli, one of the original brewers at Kulshan
Brewing, and Brandon Petersen, a local
chef, who spent the past four years at The
Fork at Agate Bay.

Bellingham piano instructor
finds permanent studio home
Discovery Music Academy, a local
piano-instruction business run by Mary
Walby, now has a permanent studio space
inside Piper Music on Meridian Street in
Bellingham.
Walby previously rented space from
Piper Music, but the permanent studio will
allow her to expand her operating hours,
which are made by appointment only.
Walby started Discovery Music Academy
in 2012. She has more than 25 years of
experience in piano instruction and performance.

Plans to contain oil seeping from the
shoreline of a cleanup site on Bellingham’s
waterfront are set to begin this week, after
an oil sheen left intermittently by the seep
was first discovered last December.
Since then, Bellingham city officials have
maintained a boom and absorbent pads
to catch and contain the oil. The city has
hired Interwest Construction of Burlington to place a specially amended layer of
sand and clay over the oil seep. The clay
and sand layer will be placed within a rock
berm and covered with a layer of gravel to
protect it from winter storms.
The oil is seeping from a small area of
shoreline at the R.G. Haley cleanup site,
which is known to be contaminated with
wood treatment chemicals from past
industrial activities. The site is located
southwest of the intersection of Cornwall
Avenue and Wharf Street.
Crews will cover approximately a
5,000-square-foot area of the shoreline
with the clay/sand layer to absorb oil seeping out.
Much of the shoreline work will be
done at night in November when tides are
expected to be lowest. Work is expected to
finish by the end of November.
The clean up is a temporary fix designed
to contain the oil until a site-wide cleanup
begins in 2015.
The city awarded the construction contract to Interwest for $88,514.41. The total
project cost, including design, permitting,
materials, and construction, is approximately $400,000.
The Washington Department of Ecology
is overseeing the work, and will reimburse
half of the city’s costs through the state’s
Remedial Action Grant program. The
program helps pay to clean up publicly
owned sites and is funded with revenue
from a voter-approved tax on hazardous
substances.
While ecology officials haven’t tested the
oil seeping out, extensive information is
available about contamination within the
cleanup site. Past testing shows there are

See BUZZ, Page 26

November 2013

21

BBJToday.com

BUSINESS TOOLKIT
Growing and maintaining your business

E

Developing leaders in businesses both large and small

very business needs
leadership in some
make, manner or form.
When you ask business
owners how they might
define leadership, you’ll
get a range of answers. But
on one thing, you’ll almost
always get agreement—
more leadership is needed
and our business would be
more successful be if we
had more leaders.
Personally, I am not sure
that the problem we are
trying to solve has been
properly defined. That’s a
problem, itself.
That leadership is always
in demand has historically led to a discussion of
whether leaders are born or
made.
Based on the amount
of money currently being
spent on the development
of leaders across the country, it is safe to say that
there is no longer an argument. It is settled. Leaders
can be made, based on the
investment.
U.S. companies increased
leadership development
spending 14 percent over
2011 levels to an estimated $13.6 billion in
2012, according to Bersin
and Associates. If you contrast that with the money
being spent on employee
engagement, you’ll find the
“spend” is about 13-to-one
in favor of leadership development.
Business leaders vote
with dollars, and right now,
hands down, leadership
development is the favorite.
If you’re a larger employer, you may have become
accustomed to line-items
in your budget that amount
to average annual investments like $1,700/first-line
leader and $2,700/mid-level
leader. By contrast, owners in smaller businesses
have a hard time justifying
that kind of spending on
their own development or
training—never mind their
managers.
So based on the dollars
spent, you might come to
the conclusions that either
you’ll have to wait until
you’re a large company
with lots of discretionary
money to be able to afford
to develop the leaders you
need, or that the way to get
big is to start spending on
leadership development
now.

Mike
Cook
On
Management
Neither really seems very
satisfactory.
In my opening paragraph, I hinted at my
belief that the problem
that needs solving has not
been properly defined.
I believe the answer lies
somewhere outside the
realm of current management thinking, which is

still dominated by command and control models,
and rather somewhere
closer to work currently
being done on employee
engagement,though there is
a lot of command and control there as well.
Mike Myatt, a contributor to Forbes, wrote
a pointedly critical piece
last year in which he was
very blunt about his opinion that much of what was
being passed off as leadership development was, in
fact, training.
According to Myatt,
“When it comes to leadership, the training industry
has been broken for years.
You don’t train leaders, you
develop them—a subtle yet
important distinction lost
on many. Leadership training is alive and well, but it
should have died long, long
ago.”
After reading Myatt’s
piece, which I agree with,

I once more began thinking about why leadership
spending far outweighs that
on employee engagement.
My guess, and that’s all I
have to go on, is that the
programs being invested in
somehow mirror the command and control models
most business leaders are
familiar with.
“Leader” still equates
to authority in the minds
of many senior managers
making these decisions,
and so the world still looks
familiar. For most business
leaders, I still think engagement is too “squishy,”
moreover lacking in control, which it is, of course.
And that’s where its power
comes from.
Business leaders normally prefer the control/force
model to the initiative/
power model. Not because
they are bad people, but
because they are normal.
But there is some good

news here, especially for
smaller employers. I am in
full agreement with Myatt
when he writes, “Don’t
train leaders, coach them,
mentor them, disciple
them, and develop them,
but please don’t attempt to
train them.”
When it comes to
developing leaders, you’d
think we were breaking
horses: a continual focus on
indoctrination in process,
technique and systems. No
wonder budgets are so high
the leadership training. We
need to build fancy pens to
herd leaders into, feed them
three times a day and keep
them away from the other
horses long enough to get
them to see things our
way—the right way.
Am I being overly harsh?
If you work in a big company, you tell me.
For larger employers, it
may be time to stop doing
much of what you’ve been

doing. For smaller employers, take heart. Your path
forward may be easier.
Real development doesn’t
have the price tag that
training does. But, you
need to get involved, as
coach, mentor and sponsor.
As Myatt writes, “Development is nuanced, contextual, collaborative, fluid,
and above all else, actionable.”
It won’t be free. You have
to be willing to invest your
time, and that is precious.
But maybe you’ll learn
something yourself along
the way.

Mike Cook is a management
developer who lives in Anacortes,
Wash. He publishes a weekly blog at
www.heartofengagement.com.

Strong, Local Relationships
“Kent Bouma and the WECU® team made
my dreams of owning my own business a
reality! Kent helped me through the process
every step of the way. I really appreciated
the personal service and time he spent to
make it happen!”

s 2013 winds down, small businesses
across the nation are looking ahead to
2014. They are setting goals, making
plans and working on budgets for the new
year.
During this time, a question that often
comes up is how much a mom-and-pop
shop or local small business should spend
to promote its products and services.

Industry
experts are all
over the board
when it comes to
how much a small
business should
spend on marketing. Percentages range from 2
percent to more
than 20 percent
of gross revenues
Patti
depending on
Rowlson
the industry, size
of the company
On Social
and whether it’s a
startup or estabMedia &
lished business.
Marketing
Most businesses
in Whatcom
County fall within
budgeting guidelines outlined by the U.S.
Small Business Administration.
The SBA suggests that established
companies earning less than $5 million
per year should allocate 7-8 percent of
revenues toward marketing. That percentage increases if a business is in the startup
phase, if it wants to launch new products
or services, or if it is marketing in business-to-consumer industries like restaurants and retail.

Have a plan and set funds aside
for marketing.
Regardless of whether a company is
marketing business-to-business services
or business-to-consumer products, a basic
marketing plan should be in place and
funds should be set aside for marketingrelated expenses.
Having a plan and budget on hand helps
business owners make informed (not
impulsive) decisions throughout the year.
These documents can be referred to when
decisions need to be made about buying
advertisements, participating at events,
ramping up networking activities or even
outsourcing things like graphic design,
photography and social-media tasks.
How much should be spent on marketing
and advertising?

What expenses are included in a marketing budget?
Depending on target markets and what
products and services are being promoted,
marketing budgets may include the following expenses: digital and print advertising (think online ads, radio, and video
production), participating in events and
trade shows, networking-group memberships, social-media management, professional photography, graphic design, website
maintenance, SEO or copywriting services,
vehicle graphics, print materials like flyers and brochures, promotional items and
even branded clothing items.
Ready to put together a marketing budget for 2014?
The first step is to obtain a detailed
report that shows all marketing-related
expenses from the past year (ask your
bookkeeper for this information). Take
time to review those expenses so you
understand exactly where the money has
been going.
Once you know how much was spent
and what it was spent on, you can work
to set a marketing budget for 2014 that is
based on a percentage of projected rev-

enues and your business goals for the new
year. Remember, if you want to aggressively grow your business or expand into a new
market, you will need to consider increasing the percentage spent on marketing.
Next, think about your marketing plan
and target market. Do you feel last year’s
marketing expenses helped reach those
consumers?
If there are obvious items on your
expense report that did, or did not, produce results, make plans to adjust the budget and reallocate funds accordingly.
Lastly, as you’re going through the process of setting up a marketing budget, try
not to get stuck in the “that’s how we’ve
always done it, and I don’t know what else
to do” trap. New marketing and advertising options pop up nearly every day!
If you are unsure what direction to head
in, take a look at what competitors are
doing successfully or ask a trusted adviser
for suggestions.

Patti Rowlson is a marketing consultant and social media
manager at PR Consulting, Inc. She helps Whatcom County
small businesses identify, implement and consistently
maintain marketing-related programs. Learn more about
small-business marketing by connecting with PR Consulting
on social media sites or by visiting www.pattirowlson.com.

NONPROFIT NOTES

Gratitude, potential and productivity
that surrounds us.
All of this—and so much more—is made
possible because people and businesses like
you support the many nonprofit organizations that work so hard to make Whatcom
County the amazing place that we all call
home.
Generosity is a hopeful and positive
action, which we have recently learned also
has implications for our productivity.
According to Shawn Achor, a Harvard
researcher and the author of “The Happiness Advantage,” our brains are 30 percent
more productive when we are positive than
when we are negative, neutral or stressed.
Scientists have found that when positive
brains are flooded with dopamine, it turns
on all of your learning centers, creating a

BY PAMELA JONS
AND SARA SOUTHERLAND
Courtesy to The Bellingham Business Journal

N

ovember is the time of year we collectively engage in the practice of
giving thanks and expressing gratitude. Those of us working in the nonprofit
sector are keenly aware that generosity is
an element that plays a singularly powerful
role in a thriving community.
Gifts of time, resources and expertise
from individuals, families and businesses
fuel our charitable sector. These gifts help
families access food, connect children with
the support they need to thrive, provide
quality arts and cultural opportunities and
enhance the natural beauty and wildlife

true happiness advantage whether you are
working on a report, solving a problem or
planning a project.
Put simply, happy brains are more productive. So what can we do to help our
brains become, and stay, more positive?
Along with exercise, journaling, gratitude and meditation, Achor’s research has
landed on one other important activity
that enhances our happiness. He describes
this activity as “conscious acts of kindness,”
which can also be described as people
helping each other.
Fortunately our community is filled with
generous people and organizations who
work hard to help their neighbors. Over
the past three years, our “acts of kindness”
have been pretty impressive.
Since 2010, thousands of donors like you

have contributed more than $15 million to
support the work of local nonprofit organizations. Over these same three years, the
Whatcom Volunteer Center has connected
2,784 volunteers who have contributed
600,000 hours of their time with 149 nonprofit, government and health-care related
agencies.
Virginia Lang, a nonprofit consultant
who works in communities throughout
the U.S., sums it up this way: “The relationship between nonprofit organizations
and the business community in Whatcom
County is as long standing and generously
supported as any in the country. We are
fortunate that many companies in our area
have corporate cultures that encourage and

Who’s news in Bellingham & Whatcom business
Banking
Peoples Bank, headquartered in Lynden,
has promoted Melinda Kaemingk to assistant vice president and
compliance officer, where
she will be responsible for
evaluating and providing
guidance on compliance
issues and concerns and
educating management
and employees on compliance responsibilities
Melinda Kaemingk pertaining to their job
functions. Kaemingk has
been with the company her entire career,
starting out as a teller at Peoples Bank’s
downtown Bellingham location.
Peoples Bank has also promoted Kimberley Harper to LPL financial adviser in
its investment and business planning arm,
Peoples Investments.
In her new role, Harper
will serve the investment and planning needs
of clients in Skagit and
Island counties. Harper
earned a bachelor’s degree
in finance from Western
Kimberly Harper Washington University.
She has worked in the
financial services industry for more than
three years, two of which have been with
with Peoples Investments.

Construction, manufacturing,
skilled trades
Colleen Mitchell, professional civil
engineer and project manager with 2020
Engineering in Bellingham, has been
selected to serve on
the city of Seattle’s Living Building and Deep
Green Technical Advisory
Group. The group provides recommendations
to the city’s Department
of Planning and DevelColleen Mitchell opment on updating
the Living Building and
Seattle Deep Green Pilot
Program, which aims to promote sustainable building and development. Mitchell
was the project manager for 2020’s work
on two recent “living buildings” in Seattle:

the Bertschi School Science Wing and the
Bullitt Center.
Thoren Rogers of Barron Heating and
Air Conditioning in Ferndale was recently
promoted to building performance administrator, following the company’s success in
offering this new service to clients. Rogers
is a lifelong resident of Whatcom County
and a graduate of Western Washington
University.

Financial and business services
Patrick Britton recently joined Marie
Bjornson’s team at Envoy Mortgage in
Bellingham. Britton has been hired as a
licensed mortgage loan
originator. He has more
than nine years’ experience in the financialservice industry, and has
previously worked for
some of the largest banks
in Canada, as well as a
Patrick Britton specialty stock brokerage
firm in Vancouver, British
Columbia.
Euphrates Greene has been promoted
to network engineer at 3D Corporation,
a network-management firm based in
Bellingham. Greene will now perform network and solution design for 3D’s business
analysts, take the lead on network projects
and assist with the training of network
administrators.

Insurance
Connor Herman and Makenzie Morgan have recently joined Snapper Shuler
Kenner Insurance in Bellingham and Lynden. Herman, longtime Whatcom County
resident, is a property and casualty agent
for the company. Morgan runs the front
desk at SSK’s Barkley Village office in Bellingham, handling payments and personallines processing.

Legal services
Timothy Potts has joined Zender
Thurston, P.S., a civil-practice law firm in
Bellingham. Potts will work in the areas
of taxation, real estate, transactions, estate
planning, entity formation/reorganization
and financing/lender dealings. He earned

his doctorate of law from Willamette
University School of Law, and previously
worked in his own firm, Potts Law.

Real estate
Emily Wyss has joined the Bellingham
office of RE/MAX Whatcom County.
Wyss focuses on residential properties,
specializing in first-time home buyers.
She was raised on Lopez Island, and has
resided in Whatcom County for the past
10 years. Prior to earning her real-estate
license, Wyss worked in customer service
and volunteer management for the Whatcom Humane Society.

Restaurants
Michael “Mica” Christensen has been
promoted to sous chef at Keenan’s at the
Pier, inside The Chrysalis Inn & Spa in
Bellingham. Christensen
has a culinary arts degree
from Le Cordon Bleu
and a degree in social science from the University
of Cologne in Germany.
He recently worked at
Toulouse Petit Kitchen in
“Mica” Christensen Seattle, one of the top restaurants in the nation.

See PEOPLE, Page 26

Fairhaven
360-714-5080
Barkley
360-714-5080

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right here.

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Fall planting time is here!
Fall soil is warm and ideal for planting!
The cooler temps and increased rainfall
help roots to become well established.

ork is still a couple of
months away from completion, but Bellingham
International Airport passengers already are talking about
how much they appreciate the
expanded commercial terminal. The $38.6 million commercial terminal expansion is
scheduled for completion in
January. Already overcrowding
at the terminal has been nearly

eliminated with the opening
of a new, expansive ticketing
lobby and baggage claim area.
The new ticketing lobby is
three times larger than the old
one and has space for 20 ticketing agent work stations. This,
combined with a new layout,
will eliminate the overcrowding at ticketing.
The new baggage claim area
is four times larger than the
old one. But the convenience
of the two baggage carrousels
is even more popular than the
extra space. The first carrousel
opened this past summer and
the second one began operating last month. These carrousels replaced a single baggage slide system that caused
returning passenger delays
while waiting to reunite with
their luggage.
The Port of Bellingham’s airport has been experiencing

steady growth. In 2009, the
airport had 320,358 outbound
passengers. In 2012 this had
grown to 570,575 outbound
passengers.
Another part of the terminal
expansion that was completed
in October was an expanded
area for Halibut Henry’s in the
secure gate holding area. This
expansion gives Halibut Henry’s the ability to expand its
food, beverage and gift sales.
An earlier phase of the project
included expanding the Scotty
Brown’s restaurant in the gate
holding area.
Behind the scenes, contractors
are busy installing a complex
system for checked baggage
that inspects, sorts, and transports luggage from the checkin area to airline loading. This
system alone requires 52 miles
of wiring.
The Port issued revenue bonds

to pay for construction and the
bonds will be repaid through
fees charged to passengers, airlines, airport businesses, and
airport parking customers.
Property taxes are not being
for this project.
The airport is a significant part
of the local economy. Over 700
people work in the businesses
and airlines at the airport and
even more local businesses
benefit from having a modern,
efficient airport with direct
flights to a dozen destinations.

The Bellingham Whatcom
County Tourism team promotes these menu options
in tasty and tantalizing
ways through year round
marketing, advertising, and
media relations programs.
And, returning briefly to
the McDonalds and Burger
King reference -- to locate
our "menu" in highly visible locations where customized experiences are
created either electronically
or face-to-face.

I

'm actually at a Travel
& Tourism Research
Association conference
as I write this column. The
annual Marketing Outlook
Forum focuses on trends
and technologies that
impact, and are impacted
by, travel and tourism. We
are also examining traveler
preferences and how consumer expectations mold
the travel experience in
successful markets.
Two things continue to top
the list of expectations and
travel motivators: customer service and the customization of the destination
product. Apparently, one
size doesn't fit all. And
actually never has.
Consumers will tolerate a
certain "sameness" in many

products. I remember
spotting a Wendy's while in
Japan and our entire family rushed to the familiar
place with its familiar food.
Most of us in a particular
age group can identify the
consistent ingredients of
a McDonald’s Big Mac by
singing the advertising
campaign jingle -- "two all
beef patties, special sauce,
lettuce, cheese, pickles,
onions on a sesame seed
bun". This jingle defines
what customers can anticipate from a Big Mac. Every
time.
Burger King countered
that consistency with
their "Have it your way"
campaign, and consumers came to realize they
could manipulate even the
most consistent and simple

ingredients to create their
own custom burger.
The tourism industry came
to the Burger King conclusion very quickly and with
great emphasis. Travelers
consistently reject experiences that resemble "destination in a box" in favor of
a smorgasborg of activities,
events and components
they put together to create
their own custom experience.
We are fortunate in Whatcom County to offer destination diversity with a
variety of indoor, outdoor,
seasonal, sedentary and
active "ingredients" that
provide an "all you can eat
buffet" to satisfy visitor
(and resident) appetites.

The Tourism Bureau has
been conscientiously planning an expansion of our
personal interaction services to complement those
offered seven days a week
at the Potter Street Information Center. Earlier this
year, the Bureau and Port
of Bellingham launched
an ambassador program at
the airport, followed a few
months later at the Cruise
Terminal.
Ambassadors will also
soon have a presence at
the newly renovated Bellis
Fair Mall. And plans are
underway to open an information center in downtown Bellingham as well.
You can also expect to see
Bureau staff, volunteers
and ambassadors at an
increased number of special events and activities,
including consumer travel
shows in Vancouver BC,

Seattle, Portland,
and west coast
markets served by
Allegiant Airlines.
As you can imagine, there will be
a need to recruit
and train friendly
and knowledgeable people to
help with this
face-to-face
expansion. If
you, or someone you know,
has a passion
for sharing your
community with
visitors, please
contact Becca@
bellingham.org
for an ambassador
application and
job description.

November 17
Chuckanut November Brewery
Tour
November 21-23
Home for the Holidays
November 22-23, 29-30
Kale House B&B Art Show
and Sale
Every Thursday-Sunday
Improv Comedy - Upfront
Theatre, 8:00 & 10:00 pm

chemicals in the soil and
groundwater, which include
petroleum hydrocarbons,
pentachlorophenol polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,
dioxins and furans.
From the mid-1800s to
the mid-1900s, the site was
used for industries including lumber, coal and wharf
operations. Various companies have treated wood on
the property.
The city of Bellingham
owns most of the con-

PEOPLE | FROM 23
Retail
Amber Brouillette and
Morgan Gamboa have
joined Launching Success
Learning Store in Bellingham as part-time sales
associates. Both are currently seniors at Western
Washington University.
Brouillette is studying special education and elementary education, while Gamboa is studying elementary
education and psychology.

Sports
Stephanie Morrell has
been hired as the new
marketing director for the
Bellingham Bells baseball
team. Morrell previously
spent five years with The
Bellingham Herald as an
advertising sales consultant.
In addition to her marketing duties, Morrell will
assist the team’s general
manager, Nick Caples, on
the sales front, becoming
the Bells’ second full-time
front office staff member.

Kudos
Will Kemper, co-found-

taminated land and plans
to build a park there. The
city has a legal agreement
with the state, known as
an “agreed order,” to investigate the contamination,
as well as identify and
evaluate long-term cleanup
options.

TEDx Bellingham
releases viewing
party schedule
Although tickets to see
the TEDxBellingham event
on Tuesday, Nov. 12, are
sold out, others interested
er at brewmaster at Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen in
Bellingham, has was asked
to speak at the annual
conference of the Master
Brewers Association of the
Americas, which was held
from Oct. 23-26 in Austin,
Texas. Kemper was asked to
discuss his brewing expertise in developing hybrid
ales such as Chuckanut;s
German-style Kolsch ale
and its “Alt German” ale.
Jennifer Shelton, the
director of Western Washington University’s Small
Business Development
Center, has completed the
CGBP certification process
through the North American Small Business International Trade Educators
professional association.
The CGBP designation is a
nationally recognized credential that demonstrates
competency in international trade, including global
business management,
global marketing, supply
chain management and
trade finance.
Nic Wendland, an install
crew lead for Corion
Landscape Management

in watching the event’s
speakers and performers
will be able to attend a
series of viewing parties, as
well as access the talks on
the Internet.
The inaugural TEDxBellingham will take place at
the Pickford Film Center
in downtown Bellingham.
The event unites local and
regional visionaries and
inspiring speakers and performers around the theme
of “Here by Choice,” organizers said.
TEDx Bellingham will be
webcast live at http://live.

in Ferndale has earned
a Landscape Industry
Certified Technician designation from the Professional Landscape Network
(known in the industry as
PLANET), recognizing his
expertise of installation
practices for hard-scapes
and soft-scapes. PLANET
serves lawn care professionals, landscape management
contractors, design/build/
installation professionals
and interior plant-scapers.

at the Fairhaven Branch
of the Bellingham Public
Library. Winifred Wilks
and her husband, Kenneth,
moved to Bellingham when
they retired in 1993. Winifred, an avid reader, was
a frequent patron of the
Fairhaven Branch Library
until her passing in 2002.

A recent charity golf
tournament at Bellingham’s Shuksan Golf Club
raised more than $67,000
in support of local scholarships. The event, called the
Commander Pete Oswald
Memorial Golf Tournament, was held to support
Bellingham Dollars for
Scholars (a program of
Whatcom Community
Foundation) and the Navy
SEAL Foundation.
The Friends of the
Fairhaven Library is recognizing a $39,606 bequest
from the Winifred Wilks
Trust that has been used to
update computer technology and the children’s area

Haggen Inc. has initiated
its “School Bucks” program,
where the company makes
donations to grade schools
chosen by shoppers with
Haggen cards who purchase items marked with a
School Bucks logo.
The company also
announced it has wrapped
up its recent “Best of the
Northwest” prize contest,
where 300 customers won
more than $75,000 worth
of prizes, including restaurant gift certificates, vacation packages and a Toyota
Prius won by a shopper at
the Woodinville TOP Food
& Drug store.
Lydia Place, a Bellingham-based nonprofit
organization that supports
homeless families, has
received a $15,000 grant

November 2013
5:00 p.m., with a lunch
break from 12:00 p.m. to
1:00 p.m.
More information is
online at www.tedxbellingham.com.

WWU to host Fall
Business Career Fair,
Nov. 7
Western Washington
University is hosting its
Fall Business Career Fair
from 1-5 p.m. on Thursday,
Nov. 7, in the Wade King
Student Recreation Center
MAC Gym.
from The Allstate Foundation. The grant application
was facilitated with support by Scott Richardson,
owner of the local Allstate
Agency State Street Insurance in Bellingham, and a
former Lydia Place board
member.
McNett Corp. in Bellingham has raised more than
$10,000 in support of local
veterans with the help of a
number of businesses from
Whatcom and Skagit counties. With the company’s
support, 10 local veterans
attended the annual Hunting with Heroes event in
Klickitat, Wash., from Oct.
11 to Oct. 14.
The nonprofit Opportunity Council in Bellingham has been honored as a
“Friend of Housing” by the
Washington State Housing
Finance Commission, in
recognition of its role in the
successful passage of the
Bellingham Home Fund.
The Opportunity Council
led a 2012 campaign to
approve a property-tax
levy in Bellingham that
would raise $21 million
for local housing over the
next seven years. The levy
was approved by 56 percent
of voters in Bellingham,
which is only the second
city in Washington to
implement such a program.
Snapper Shuler Kenner
Insurance in Bellingham
and Lynden has announced
the following employee
achievements:
Tom Dorr recently
received his Accredited
Advisor in Insurance certification, awarded by
the Insurance Institute of
America. Dorr joined the
company in 2012 as a producer.
Jamie Baer, who joined
the company’s medical
department in June, has
received a license in Life,
Medical & Disability benefits.
Bob Hagedorn and Rod
Starkenberg have been recognized by the Society of

Co-sponsored by
WWU’s College of Business
and Economics and the
Career Services Center, the
fair provides opportunities
for students and alumni
of all majors to explore
internship and employment
possibilities with a large
number of diverse organizations.
More information is on
the Career Services Center’s
website at pnw.cc/qgJec.

The Buzz is compiled from daily news
reports posted on BBJToday.com.

Certified Insurance Counselors for five consecutive
years of active affiliation
within the organization.
Tony’s Coffee in Bellingham won first place in
the America’s Best Espresso
Competition, a head-tohead competition between
32 coffee roasters held in
Seattle in early October.
Tony’s won using its signature Ganesha Espresso.
Western Washington
University has been awarded a three-year, $294,948
grant for the prevention
of campus suicides from
the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services
Administration. Michael
Sledge, assistant dean of
students at WWU, will be
the project director and
will work with a team of
professionals throughout
the university and the community, including students,
staff and faculty.
Project activities will
directly address cultural
issues that create barriers to prevention, initiate
new activities, evaluate
and assess efforts to make
adjustments as needed to
fit the needs of Western
students and their families,
and lay the groundwork
for sustainability of suicide
prevention activities in the
future.
The nonprofit Whatcom
Dispute Resolution Center
in Bellingham raised nearly
$1,200 during its seventh
annual “Compete for a
Cause” Cribbage Tournament, held on Sept. 22 in
the Boundary Bay Brewery
Beer Garden. The tournament champion was Matt
Owings, who competed
with his brother, Mark,
but passed him in the second round. There were 42
competitors in the daylong
event.

Evan Marczynski, staff reporter for The Bellingham
Business Journal, can be reached at 360-647-8805, Ext.
5052, or evan@bbjtoday.com.

Mount Baker

NOTES | FROM 22
often match annual employee contributions through their own uniquely managed
programs.”
These numbers tell a meaningful story
about our community: We care about this
place, and we are willing to give what we
can to make living here better. How wonderful to learn that this generous spirit is

27

BBJToday.com

also helping our brains reach their productivity potential!
In honor of Thanksgiving, the Whatcom Council of Nonprofits would like to
express our thanks to all of you, the businesses and people who give your time,
financial assistance and talent. Your gifts
make Whatcom County an even better
place to live, work and play.
The Whatcom Council of Nonprofits,
a program of the Whatcom Community

PEACEHEALTH | FROM 17
No. 1 have approved a letter of intent to
create a strategic alliance within the next
nine to 12 months, which would also
include collaboration with UW Medicine,
a provider that recently finalized a partnership agreement with PeaceHealth’s Northwest Network.
Skagit’s Public Hospital District No. 1,
which goes by the name Skagit Regional
Health, includes the 137-bed Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon and 10
Skagit Regional Clinics. The district serves
patients in Skagit, Island, San Juan and
north Snohomish counties.
St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham is part
of PeaceHealth’s Northwest Network.
The letter of intent lays out, in broad
terms, the objectives of the proposed alliance. The providers’ say the next step in
their negotiations is to develop more specific goals before creating a final, definitive
agreement within the next year.
The proposed alliance would integrate
clinical and administrative systems, as well
as pool together complementary clini-

Foundation, is delighted to be a networking hub, educational resource and advocate
for the nonprofit sector here in Whatcom
County, hosting monthly brown bag educational meetings, networking opportunities, providing an online calendar and
newsletter for event and resource sharing
and more.
To learn more, please visit www.
wcnwebsite.org.

cal resources between the two providers,
with the goals of reducing care costs while
broadening the array of health services
available to patients served by Skagit
Regional Health, according to the letter.
Both providers also indicate a desire
to create joint ventures around unspecified service lines. The letter notes possible
consolidation of various support services,
as well as new partnerships on physician
recruitment and the implementation of an
enhanced IT platform for Skagit Regional
Health.
The proposal states that the district
board of Skagit Regional Health would
retain ultimate authority over the care its
hospital and other facilities provide. A
provision in the letter of intent notes this
would include the preservation of certain
women’s health, reproductive and end-oflife services currently available to patients
at Skagit’s facilities. PeaceHealth, in keeping with its Catholic-based care guidelines,
does not currently offer a similar range of
services.
Skagit Regional Health would also retain
control over its finances, according to the
proposal.

Pamela Jons is the director of advancement and programs
at the Whatcom Community Foundation.
Sara Southerland, the food and farming program
coordinator for Sustainable Connections, is a member of the
outreach committee for the Whatcom Council of Nonprofits.
This is an installment of a recurring series of columns from the
Whatcom Council of Nonprofits that will be featured in The
Bellingham Business Journal.

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